This post contains affiliate links. Read our Disclosure Policy for additional info.
Happy Friday. Yes, I took a three week long hiatus from the blog….I have not been motivated to sit down at the laptop to write after sitting and working on it all day. And…..I needed a break. But I came back strong with three posts this week (who am I?!)! I do enjoy writing, so hopefully, I’ve gotten my momentum back. I did realize while typing this post that I didn’t take any pictures this week, minus dinner photos! I hope all you moms had a wonderful Mother’s Day last Sunday! Here are five from this week:
1. Celebrations – This week we celebrated my mom’s birthday, my brother’s birthday, my niece’s birthday and Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, none of my family lives nearby so we weren’t able to have any socially distanced visits. Just three zoom calls this week to sing happy birthday and catch up.
2. Watching – This week our family binge watched Upload on Amazon Prime. The show takes place in the future, where when people die they can choose to be uploaded into a virtual afterlife. Nathan has died and ends up forming a friendship with his angel, Nora. It’s part sci-fi, part comedy and even part mystery. It is rated MA and there’s some language and sexual references. But the four of us loved this show!
3. Reading – I think I’ve hit another reading slump. The last book that I finished was What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty. But that was almost a week ago and I am nowhere near finishing another book anytime soon. This is one of Moriarty’s older books that I hadn’t read. I enjoyed this book and have found that I like her older books more than her newer stuff.
4. Home Projects – So what have I been doing in the past three weeks? Well, we decided to tackle a bunch of house projects. My daughter decided she wanted to redo her room, which includes painting her walls. We are making her do it (with some help from Dana). In the meantime, Dana has been working on giving the kids’ bathroom a face-lift – some new paint, hanging some bead board, new trim, a new vanity, new lights, taking out the medicine cabinet that’s been there since we bought the house, etc. This has been a slow process since he is working during the day. But, it looks like we have plenty of time!
5. Podcasts – Recently, I have been listening to ALL the news podcasts: The Daily (New York Times), Start Here (ABC News), Up First (NPR), The Journal (WSJ) and The NPR Politics Podcast. I like information and facts. Social media is horrible and I’ve found that these podcasts keep me informed and up-to-date on the what’s going on in the world, usually in 30 minutes or less.
Our family has been vegan now for almost 5 months now. Way back when, I used to post our weekly meal plans. I’d share them a week behind, so I could post pictures and give a short review – did we like the recipe?, what changes we made, etc. During this pandemic, besides working from home, most of our time has been spent in the kitchen cooking. So, I thought that I’d start sharing our weekly vegan plan. With the current meat shortage, I feel like more people will be cooking meatless dinners a little more often. I am not here to convert anyone. We became vegan for health reasons. If you are already vegan, maybe you haven’t tried some of these recipes. And if you’re not, maybe some of these vegan dinners will appeal to you and make you want to try one for your next Meatless Monday!
Sunday: Mediterranean Vegan Eggplant Roll Ups – This meal was pretty labor intensive, which is why I chose to make it on a Sunday. I served it with a side of pasta. In my opinion, the end result wasn’t worth all of the effort. My daughter didn’t like the cauliflower rice (and she usually likes everything!). Not worth repeating.
Monday: Simple Crispy Vegan Falafel Bowls -This was my son’s recipe for the week. Our family loves falafel and probably have it at least once a month. This particular recipe called for red pepper flakes which gave the falafel a little kick. We cooked these in the air fryer. They came out crispy on the outside but a bit mushy on the inside. I think we may have to try frying the falafel to get them really crispy.
Tuesday: Vegan Caramelized Mac n’ Cheese – We are huge cheese fans, and it’s definitely one of the foods that I have been missing since becoming vegan. I’d rather omit the vegan “cheese” in a recipe since it does not taste anything like the real thing. This particular recipe intrigued me because it uses eggplant as the base of the sauce, with the promise of the sauce not tasting like the vegetable. Well, we did not agree. We all could taste the eggplant, which wasn’t bad, but it doesn’t pass for mac and cheese. The kids were not fans at all. Not worth repeating.
Wednesday: Vegan Bombay Potatoes – We have made a variety of different Indian inspired dishes since becoming vegan. This dish is made of chickepeas and potatoes in a spiced tomato sauce. I served it over rice with a side of naan. This was one of my daughter’s favorite meals of the week and she’s already asked me to make it again!
Thursday: Vegan French Toast – My daughter does not enjoy finding recipes, nor does she enjoy cooking….baking is a totally different story. We are such opposites! On her nights to cook she tries to find the easiest recipes she can. Breakfast for dinner has always been a hit with the fam. This week she chose french toast. Instead of the ciabatta the recipe called for, I had her use a regular loaf of white bread. While she cooked the french toast, I made sauteed apples that we served on top. This was the first time that we had french toast in months. It was tasty and we will be making it again.
Friday: Black Bean Vegan Empanadas – Dana chose this for his recipe of the week. The recipe made enough for each of us to have two empanadas….although we all could have eaten at least two more! These were really tasty and we can’t wait to try different types of fillings using the phyllo dough as the empanada dough. He served these with sauteed garlic spinach.
Saturday: Taco Pasta – I switched dinners on the meal plan mid-week and didn’t realize that I ended up with two dinners back-to-back with similar flavor profiles. I also didn’t realize when I went to make this that I was out of taco seasoning. So I used fajita seasoning instead, which definitely changed the flavor a bit. Overall, this was an okay dish and one of the few taco pasta recipes that I found that didn’t call for some type of plant-based “meat.”
Recommended dinners of the week: Black Bean Empanadas, Vegan Bombay Potaotes and Vegan French Toast.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for additional info.
Another month, another book link up. Once again, I’m sharing my April reads with Steph and Jana. This month’s reading was filled with books off my own shelf and kindle books. It was a pretty good reading month and while May has been off to a slow start, I hope to keep up the reading momentum. Here are my April reads:
3 stars:
Collision by Jeff Abbott – Ben Forsberg, a private corporate consultant, and “Pilgrim,” a former CIA agent end up working together to find out who has set the two of them up and tried to kill them both. While I enjoy fast-paced, action, thrillers, I realized that I would have enjoyed watching this as a movie, versus reading it.
Somebody’s Daughter by Rochelle Weinstein – Emma and Bobby Ross live with their twin daughters, in “The Ross,” the hotel that they own. The book opens on the night of their daughters’ 15th birthday party. On this night, they learn that a private moment between Zoe and a classmate was videotaped and has gone viral. This event has a tremendous impact on each of the family members as they try to recover and seek justice. I thought this book was relevant in portraying the dangers of social media and was an okay read.
The Other Familyby Loretta Nyhan – (c/o Netgalley) Ally Anderson is adopted. Her daughter, Kylie, suffers from severe allergies that may be genetic. In order to help her daughter, Ally takes a DNA test and discovers that she has an aunt that lives nearby. Ally and Kylie end up befriending Micki and her family, while Ally gets to learn more about her past and seek treatment for Kylie. I felt like there was too much going on in this book, with Kylie’s autoimmune disorder, Ally connecting with her biological family, oh and did I mention the divorce she is currently in the process of getting?!
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin – This nonfiction book follows Greg Mortenson from his failed attempt in the early 90’s to climb K2 to building over 50 schools, health centers and women’s centers. This book had been on my to read list for a long time. We have a mini free library at work and a coworker saw this book on the shelf and recommended I read it, which was the catalyst of me finally giving it a try. I did enjoy learning more about Afghanistan and Pakistan and I do believe Mortenson has good intentions. However, this book was way too slow for me and then I read about the inaccuracies and controversies of the book.
4 stars:
Before the Fall by Noah Howley – A private jet on its way from Martha’s Vineyard to New York crashes into the ocean. The only two survivors are Scott Burroughs, a painter, and 4 year-old J.J. who are both thrown into the spotlight as authorities try to figure out what happened. The story switches back and forth pre and post crash as well follow the different characters who were on board the plane. It was an engaging read that my husband, teen daughter and I have all now read.
The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry – (c/of Netgalley) Lindsey, Dani and Kendra have been best friends since they were children. Now, they all have boys the same age. Except after a sleepover gone bad, one boy is dead, one boy is brain dead in a coma, and the only boy who knows what happened that night has become mute and is in the midst of an emotional breakdown. As the story unfolds, lots of secrets are revealed as the parents and police try to figure out what happened that night. There was almost too much going on and I felt the ending was unfinished. However, I found it to be an riveting read. I read an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley, which comes out in August. This was my first Berry book and I didn’t realize that she has written so many others. I will definitely be checking out some of her other books.
Long Bright River by Liz Moore – Kacey and Mickey grew up being raised by their grandmother, after their mother dies of a drug overdose. Kacey is a drug addict and lives on the streets. Mickey is now a cop, working the streets of Philadelphia while also trying to keep tabs on her sister. There’s a series of murders that Mickey is working on and when she realizes that she hasn’t seen Kacey in awhile, she becomes obsessed with finding her. As the story unfolds, there are so many layers revealed. It’s a dark and heavy, bu really good read!
Lucky Girlby Mei-Ling Hopgood – This is the autobiography of Mei-Ling Hopgood. She was adopted from China at 8 months by Rollie and Chris Hopgood. Her parents also adopted two boys from South Korea and they all grew up happily in Michigan. As a young adult, during a visit with Sister Maureen, the nun who helped facilitate Mei-Ling’s adoption, it is brought up that she can likely find her birth parents. Eventually Mei-Ling takes Sister Maureen up on her offer and is contact with her birth parents and family. What follows are trips abroad as she gets to know her biological family. I don’t know if this book was so compelling to me because, I myself am adopted from South Korea. However, I enjoyed seeing how Mei-Ling was able to balance both worlds and families.
On Dublin Street by Samantha Young – Joss Butler made a home in Scotland, after her parents and baby sister died and she was old enough to leave the United States. Ellie is looking for a roommate to share her beautiful apartment with and she and Joss become fast friends. Unfortunately, Ellie’s brother Braden happens to be very good looking and used to getting what he wants. Joss falls for his charm and the two end up in a friends with benefits arrangement. But will it become serious? I got this book way back when Fifty Shades of Grey was big and it’s been sitting on my shelf since then. I finally decided to read it and found it was an addicting, steamy, contemporary romance.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for info.
Hello Friday! Hope everyone is still doing well during these uncertain times. Obviously, there’s not a lot going on here or likely anywhere! Here are five from another unexciting week:
1. Birthday Celebrations – This week we helped celebrate two more birthdays. One was a birthday parade for my daughter’s friend and the other was for our neighbor.
2. Reading – This week I finished reading Lucky Girl by Mei-Ling Hopgood. This is a non-fiction book about the author, who was adopted as an infant. She is able to track down her birth parents and travels to Taiwan to meet them and her siblings.
3. Watching – This past week Dana and I binge watched season 1 of Jack Ryan. I wrote about this on Wednesday’s Happy List because it was my first true binge watch in forever (eight episodes in 24 hours). We haven’t started season 2 yet (hopefully this weekend!) because I will not want to leave my couch until I’ve watched every episode.
I may have a thing for John Krasinski, but if you haven’t seen his show, Some Good News (SGN) on Youtube, I HIGHLY recommend! It highlights all the positive things going on during this time……and John Krasinski!! I linked the first episode here. I literally laugh and cry during every episode.
4. Cooking – This week’s menu included Ratatouille Pasta, Veggie Teriyaki Stir Fry Noodles, Basil Chickpea Curry, Smoky Sweet Potato Tempeh Scramble Tacos and Vegetable Vegan Lasagna.
5. Family Game Night – We take turns picking shows to watch as a family and games to play on game nights. My husband chose Monopoly Ultimate Banking. I don’t think I’ve ever finished a game of Monopoly in my life. We set a 1 hour time limit for the game and were fine when it was over. The good thing about this game is that it’s electronic so there’s no paper money to have to deal with.
A mid-day Happy List! Here’s three things making me happy today:
1. Some Good News Episode 4 – Have you watched this show yet?! If not, what are you waiting for?!!
2. Jack Ryan Season 1 – I don’t know what box I was living in, but I didn’t realize that John Krasinski plays Jack Ryan! I can’t believe that I haven’t posted this on my happy list yet. I can’t remember the last time that I did a binge watch of a show….like a real binge watch. But this past weekend my husband and I watched all eight episodes of season 1 of this show in 24 hours. It’s a little violent and I have to not watch the screen. But it’s action and suspense and a perfect escape.
3. Earth Day – Happy Earth Day! While we have all this craziness going on, Mother Earth is benefiting from us all staying inside. Plus, all of the signs of spring give us hope that there will be brighter times ahead.
Another afternoon happy list. Here are today’s three!
1. Clearance Easter candy – I had to run to Walmart last night to try to find Tylenol (score!). While I was there, they had Easter candy for 75-90% off. I might have bought a bag of twix and m&ms for the family.
2. Family Walk – Normally, my husband and I take a daily after work walk (weather dependent). Yesterday, the whole family enjoyed a walk together.
3. Netflix Documentaries – I’m always looking for something new to watch and I am a documentary fan, if I find the subject interesting. I’m going to have to check out some of these. I already watched Miss Americana and it was so good!
Well, it appears that I’m taking the weekends off from posting a Happy List! Here’s a late edition for today!
1. Life Is Good – I can add to this I have my family and I have good health. Just this small reminder everyday, is worth being happy about.
2. Cats Making Bad Decisions – I’m a cat mom of two and yes, cats can make bad decisions! If you are a cat lover, this post will hopefully make you smile too!
3. Lip Sync Battle – So, if you haven’t noticed yet, I may have a thing for John Krasinski. Seeing this video of him lip singing Proud Mary definitely made me smile!
Happy Friday! We made it through another week. Here is today’s happy:
1. Mocktails – For my daughter’s birthday we made virgin strawberry pina coladas. The kids were so excited about their special drinks that I realized this is something that we will have to make more of in quarantine.
2. Family Game Night – I had my son pick the family activity yesterday and he chose Apples to Apples. We hadn’t played this one in awhile, so it was a fun time.
3. Saved By the Bell – I grew up watching this show and now it’s getting a reboot! Although an air date has not been released yet, the show will eventually stream on NBC’s new Peacock streaming service sometime later this year. With many of the original cast returning, I’ll have to check this out!
This post contains affiliate links. Please read our Disclosure Policy for additional info.
Happy Friday! I hope everyone who celebrates had a Happy Easter. We got the kids a few things for their baskets and did an egg hunt. But otherwise, it felt like a regular day. The Governor announced yesterday that New York State will continue to be on pause until May 15th. I know that this is a necessary measure to contain the virus and keep everyone safe. I’ve never even seen the movie Groundhog’s Day. But it feels like I’m reliving the same day over and over again…..I hope everyone has as great of a weekend as you can. I still look forward to the weekends since I don’t have to set an alarm and I disconnect my work email on my phone until Monday. It’s the little things! Here are five from this week:
1. Birthday celebration – Tuesday, my daughter turned 14! Birthdays in quarantine stink, but we tried to make the best of it. We decorated the house with balloons and decorations. We ordered takeout pizza for lunch, made a homemade luau dinner (at her request) had a Zoom get-together with my family, and even did a family tik tok. One of her friends stopped by and they had a quick socially distant in-person catch up and then she had a group Facetime call with some of her other friends. She hates having a lot of attention on her (hmm, wonder who she gets that from!), and did NOT want a birthday parade or a neighborhood sing-along, like we’ve participated in for others. At the end of the day, she said she had a great birthday and that’s all I can ask for as a parent. This is definitely a birthday that she will always remember.
2. Reading – This week I finished reading On Dublin Street by Samantha Young. I’ve owned this book for years and I’m finally trying to read through some of the books on my shelf. This was a steamy, contemporary romance that I really enjoyed. It’s the first of a six book series, but I think I’m okay with just reading this one.
3. Watching – This past week we had a family movie night and watched What Happened to Monday? On Netflix. We did have to fast forward through a sex scene, but besides that, it was a pretty good movie. My daughter (and now son) and I are continuing our binge watching of Money Heist.
4. Cooking – This week’s menu included Udon Soup, Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas, and a luau dinner that included Huli Huli Cauliflower (pictured), Teriyaki Tofu, Marinated Cucumbers, Homemade Dumplings and Fried Rice.
5. Family Chalk Art – I’ve seen similar art projects all over the internet and wanted to do one as a family. Of course I had gotten rid of all of the kids’ old chalk on a cleaning spree. When I looked online for some, the price was either ridiculously expensive or the stores were sold out. When we made a quick Walmart run to get some birthday and Easter supplies, I found some chalk! And so, we had a family art day this week where we all colored this for our neighbors.
It’s really beginning to feel like Groundhog’s Day around here. Still looking for the happy each day though!
Family Chalk Art – I made the family go outside yesterday afternoon and create this chalk art. There were surprisingly no complaints from the kids and it was a fun family activity. Plus, it will hopefully bring a smile to all the neighbors who walk by (until the rain comes this weekend!).
Choose Joy – Something found on the internet, but so fitting for right now.
Kelly Clarkson Show – This episode of the Kelly Clarkson Show because I love Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake!
